ASimple,IllustratedIntroductionToSingle

InfusionMashTemperatures
Sometimesitseemsthatthemoreyoulearnaboutbrewingthelessyouknow.Therearesomany
variablesthatyoucantpossiblymanageallofthematonce.
However,theresonethingthatseasilycontrolledandcanaltertheprofileofyourbeersignificantly:
mashtemperatures.

Beforegoinganyfurtheritsusefultotakeastepbackandlookatwhatsgoinginthemash.

Mashing
Brewerssoakmalt,usuallymadefrombarley,inwarmwatertoextractsugar.Thisismashing.
Maltismadebyencouraginggrainstostartgerminatingbeforeheatingthemtostopfurthergrowth.
Maltingproducesenzymescapableofconvertingstarch(insidethegrain)intosugar.
Normallythisconversionfuelstheplantsgrowth,butbrewersuseittocreatesugarywortfor
fermentationintobeer.
Therearetwotypesofstarchinmaltedbarley:amyloseandamylopectin.

Amyloseisasimplechainofglucosemolecules.Amylopectinismorecomplicated,takingtheformof
tree.
Maltedbarleyhasroughly25%amyloseand75%amylopectin.Illgettothesignificanceofreducing
endsandnonreducingendslaterinthepost.
Fortheenzymestoworkyouneedtoactivatethem.Thisisdoneinwarmwater.
Thetemperatureofthatwaterdetermineswhichenzymesarebroughttolife,andwhattheydotoyour
wort.

Enzymes
Therearemanyenzymesinmaltthattakepartinthemash.
However,ratherthancovereveryeventualityandloseyouindetail,thetwoIwanttoexplainhereare
alphaamylaseandbetaamylase.
Byfocussingontheseyoulllearnasimpleruleofthumbthatyoucanusetoadaptyourbeertoyour
taste,ortosuitthecustomsofaparticularstyle.
Alphaamylase
Thefirstoftheseenzymesisalphaamylase.

Alphaamylasehasthesecharacteristics:
Activebetween68.570C(155158F)
Randomlybreakstheglucoseintochunks
Itcantseparateamylopectinbranches
Makeswortwithhighpercentageofnonfermentables
BetaAmylase
Thesecondenzymetothinkaboutisbetaamylase.

Betaamylasehasthesecharacteristics:
Activebetween6065C(140149F)
Turnsnonreducingendintomaltose(afermentablesugar)
Itcantdoanythingwiththeamylopectinbranches
Makeshighlyfermentableworts
Theimportantthingtorealiseisthatchangingthetemperatureofthemashslightlymeansactivatinga
differentenzyme.Thedifferencewillmanifestitselfinthefermentabiltyofthewort.
Amorefermentablewortfinisheswithlessresidualsugarandathin,lightbody.Lessfermentable
wortsproducethicker,fullbodiedbeerswithmoreremainingsugars.
Thisisusefulinformationifyouretryingtomatchthetargetfinalgravityforagivenstyleofbeer.
YoucanfindmoredetailonenzymesandthemashprocessinthisBYOarticleaboutmash
temperaturesorthisoneaboutextractionfromKhymos.
Botharerecommendedreads.

MashTemperaturesChart
Finally,Ivecondensedtheaboveinformationintothissimplechart:

Mashtemperatures:6065C:Morefermentablewortfordry,lightbeer;68.570C:Less
fermentablewortforsweet,fullbodiedbeers.
Asusual,thereisalwaysroomformorecomplexity.Onceyougetusedtotheeffectsofthedifferent
enzymesyoucancreatemultistagemashesthattakeadvantageofmorethanoneofthematthesame
time.
Butfornowjustthinkaboutyourmashtemperaturenexttimeyoubrew,andletmeknowhowyouget
oninthecomments.